As for those who seemed to be important—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance. Galations 2:6 (NIV)
Our family started a workout routine at our local gym. Before we could begin, we had to buy some fitness apparel. It seems that a lot of other people are doing what we have set out to do, and the stores are taking advantage of it. Exercise clothes and equipment replaced the Christmas decorations. Fit is in for the new year which is a good thing considering that the average American gains five pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Clothes for my husband and son should have been easy enough to purchase. Shorts and sleeveless t-shirts are what they prefer. They were both picky about the type of shorts requesting cotton gym shorts instead of nylon ones, and they were had to find. My son settled for synthetic fabric, but we could only found one pair of cotton shorts for my husband. I had more selection and thanks to after Christmas sales was also able to accommodate my penchant for only buying clearance merchandise. I found some sleeveless “yoga” tops that I like and bought three in different colors as well as a pair of yoga calf length pants, two pairs of ankle length pants one black and one gray and a black warm up jacket. I justified the three different outfits because I am supposed to go to the gym three times a week and I couldn’t be seen in the same clothes in a week! I managed to go three times last week, but it was the first week of membership! Who knows what this week will hold. Now, when I go to the gym, I feel very fashionable until I look in the mirror. With my chubby tummy protruding from the stretchy pants and top, I look like I am about eight months pregnant. I will be a fit new mom to be, I guess. The problem is the clothes may make me look like an athlete, but I am far from physically fit. When people see me stride into the gym, they may assume I know what I am doing, but I haven’t a clue how to properly work the machines, nor do I have the stamina to stay on them for long. By the time I leave the gym, I am dragging, sweaty and sore. We may be able to skate through life on appearances. Not only do our clothes make statements about us, but where and with whom we hang out with. We can fool our fellow human beings, but God is a different story. He sees into our hearts and knows who we truly are. Clothes don’t impress Him, nor do our jobs, our houses or our cars. His concern is for our thoughts and feelings, our relationship with Him and our obedience to Him. He wants to see us minister to others, not in a flashy “look at me” way, but quietly with the heart of a servant. With God as with a fitness program, image does not count. Actions do.
Leave a Reply